ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was written by Sarah A. DeCosse,
researcher with the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, on the basis
of research she carried out between 1997 and 1999. Anne Manuel, deputy
director of the Americas division, contributed research and writing to
the chapter on international policy and edited the report. José Miguel
Vivanco, executive director of the Americas division, Joanne Mariner, associate
counsel at Human Rights Watch, and Jeri Laber, senior advisor to Human
Rights Watch, also edited the report. We received help with the research
and production of this report from Megan Himan, Jessica Galería, and Monisha
Bajaj, associates with the Americas division, as well as several interns,
including Amanda Sussman, Ariana Grebe, Loren Becker, Shadi Aryabod, Carina
Cristovão, Jessica Baumgarten, and Sarah Carey. Special thanks to Steven
Lee Austin for his assistance in the production of this report.

We are indebted to all of the Cuban former
political prisoners, family members of political prisoners, human rights
activists, independent journalists, labor rights activists, and others
interviewed for this report. We especially appreciate the willingness of
those living in Cuba to speak to us. We also are grateful to Giselda Hidalgo
and Amado J. Rodríguez of Human Rights in Cuba for their valuable assistance.
We would like to thank David Nachman, board member of the Americas division
of Human Rights Watch, who interviewed Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Díaz
Sotolongo for this report.

The J.M. Kaplan Fund provided generous
support for the translation of this report into Spanish. The report was
translated by Juan Luis Guillén.